1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display system, for example, to display of images stored in a server through a network in an image posting site of a social network service (SNS).
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays how to enjoy a photograph is diversified with the spread of a digital camera. Various items of image processing can be performed because of digital image data.
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-44867 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,868) proposes a technology of generating and displaying an image (snapshot-to-painting conversion), which has a tone (for example, a painting-tone image) with an atmosphere different from an original photograph although based on the original photograph, by performing the image processing.
For example, in a technology disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-213598, the technology of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-44867 is developed, features, such as color information and information on a feeling of a brush, are extracted from an image of a painting actually painted by a painter, and the photographed image is converted into a high-artistic-quality, painting-tone image in consideration of the whole original image by providing the extracted features to the photographed image.
There is also proposed a technology of bringing about a change by modifying image quality, such as the painting tone (for example, see Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 1-46905 (corresponding to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 60-198687, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,695,966 and 4,949,279)).
Because a powerful image processing engine is required to perform the snapshot-to-painting conversion, it is conceivable that the image processing engine is provided in the server on the network, that a user uploads a photograph of the user on the server to perform the image processing, such as the snapshot-to-painting conversion, on the server.
In such cases, the user wants to exhibit the photograph when producing an artwork by performing the snapshot-to-painting conversion to the photograph of the user, and the user wants to exhibit the photograph. One of the methods for satisfying the demand is to post the photograph on the network by the SNS (for example, see Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2008-242639).
Hereinafter, the image in which the photograph of the user is uploaded on the server by the user and the image that is obtained through the image processing, such as the snapshot-to-painting conversion, on the server is referred to as “artwork.”
There is well known a technology of selectively displaying an image of a display object in temporal order in displaying many (tens of thousands of) images (for example, see Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-074322 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,973,628 B2).
However, in the related art, because there is a limitation to the number of artworks that can be displayed at once, unfortunately a browsing property of the artwork is degraded when many users post a large amount of artworks on a server. Even if the technology disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Apple. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-074322 is used, there is also generated a problem in that the browsing property of many artworks cannot be improved such that an interest of the user is awaken.